Vijay Kartikeyaa on 'Max' vs. 'Kaithi': Addressing the Similarities and Differences

15 days ago | 5 Views

While the crew of the Kannada movie Max, fronted by superstar Kiccha Sudeep, was still filming in Mahabalipuram, word got out that he was portraying a suspended cop and that the plot unfolds over just one night. Then, a synopsis popped up on a ticket aggregator site, leading netizens to connect the dots and speculate that Max was an unofficial remake of the Telugu flick Krack, which stars Ravi Teja. Although the team tried to quash these rumors, once the film hit theaters and later made its way to OTT, it drew comparisons to the 2019 Tamil movie Kaithi, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and featuring Karthi in the lead role.

Vijay Kartikeyaa: Lokesh Kanagaraj has raised the bar for one-night narratives with Kaithi

In a chat with Cineulagam, the filmmaker tackled the buzz about Max being similar to Kaithi, mentioning that he wasn't bothered by the comments or critiques. "Look, every year, there are at least 10-20 films that tell stories over just one night. Lokesh Kanagaraj really raised the bar for one-night narratives with Kaithi. The issue now is that many might hesitate to create a one-night story because it’ll inevitably be compared to Kaithi. Sure, both Max and Kaithi focus on a police station, but they’re totally different films," Vijay explains.

The filmmaker acknowledges that after wrapping up the script for Max, he briefly thought it resembled Kaithi. “But as I dug deeper, I noticed the unique elements. Plus, when I pitched the story to producer Thanu sir, I’m sure he wouldn’t have jumped on board if he thought it was too similar to Kaithi. Likewise, Sudeep sir wouldn’t have signed on if he saw too many parallels. This really boosted my confidence that my script had its own flair,” he shares.

Max follows Sudeep as Arjun Mahakshay, a cop ready to return to duty after a recent suspension. However, things take a turn when the station he’s heading to faces an attack after the arrest of two guys linked to a local gangster. The story revolves around how Arjun, or Max, tackles the threats to the station and his team. The film also features Ilavarasu, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Pramod Shetty, Sharath Lohithashwa, Sunil, Samyukta Hornad, Sukrutha Wagle, Ugramm Manju, Vamsikrishna, Redin Kingsley, Vijay Chendoor, and more.

Max premiered on Zee5 on February 15.

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